ARCTOS Honda CB1000R-adical

Strike Two!
Some time ago we introduced ARCTOS Collection and their brutal Moto Guzzi V9 Racer. In case you’ve missed, go ahead and read that article first. In the meantime, we have been eagerly waiting to share this other build from the Swiss based outfit. This time, it’s a Honda CB1000R unlike anything we have ever seen before.

The ARCTOS Honda CB1000R, dubbed “Radical”, is the winner of the Honda Switzerland’s custom CB1000R competition, and was presented at the 2019 Swiss Moto Show in Zurich. ARCTOS’ aim was to produce a completely new look, mainly by changing the proportions and handlebar position, while leaving the basic components untouched to show the extensive possibilities for this model’s customisation. The Honda CB1000R is an unusual candidate for modifications, and yet we wonder why?

Aesthetically pleasing
Stefan Fuhrer, the man behind Fuhrer Moto and co-founder of ARCTOS Collection, together with Ulfert Janssen and Mathias Fuhrer, started the transformation by adapting and custom milling the triple clamp to make it lighter and more racy. Then he adapted the fiberglass belly fairing according to his design, giving the bike a low and sexy stance.

Stefan: “The front is incredibly beautiful and hot. Through CNC milling, we have created a new fixation design for the front light and the mini windshield. With the new three-piece CNC mechanism, we can now change the height of the headlight and adjust the windscreen to any angle. The front headlight has been moved forward by 60mm and slightly lowered . This new special fixation together with the Multiclip, the triple clamp, and the carbon fork give this bike a very technical and cool visual impression like in a Transformer movie.”

CeraCarbon
Dario Dauru at 422​ ​Corse, is ARCTOS’ special partner for carbon lightweight performance parts, such as Ceracarbon forks and Rotobox wheels. The Honda is now equipped with the ultra light CeraCarbon-Racing front-fork and custom made sprockets. It has the strength and stiffness of the standard steel fork with the lightness of carbonfiber. The Ceramic coating provides the wear-resistance. To put things in perspective; a regular fork inner tube weighs around 1 kilo. Th CeraCarbon fork tube weighs less than a quarter of that: 237 grams. That’s a reduction of 75% of unsprung weight. In racing, that means a world of difference in both handling and performance. CeraCarbon also offered amazing support and went all the way by specially fabricating a new sprocket prototype for the Honda R-adical project. This sprocket is made of aluminum and is ceramic coated. This ensures a long life and the carbon inlets provide additional stability and lightness.

Hot-wheels
The wheels are high performance Carbon Fiber Wheels by Rotobox. These wheels are up to 50% lighter than original Honda rims and are the world’s only one-piece carbonfiber wheels. As this new Honda CB1000R is from 2018, there were no carbon rims yet on the market at the moment of the build. With special help from Dario at 4​22​ ​Corse, Rotobox went the extra mile and specifically developed these new rims within one month, to fit the Honda CB 1000R-adical to premiere at the 2019 Swiss Moto show. The dimensions of the wheels  are 17×3.50 front and 17×6.00 rear and got fitted with Dunlop Moto 2 Rain Tires which also enhances the unique appearance of the bike.

Upgraded equipment
For the clip-on’s ARCTOS were sponsored by ABM Fahrzeugtechnik who equipped them with their Multi Clip and some fine Synto Evo brake/clutch levers in grey/black to fit the color scheme of the bike. In addition, the motorcycle was equipped with K&N air filters for better breathing and an exhaust upgrade with the titanium/carbon fiber muffler by Akrapovic which provides a rich sound.

Paint – no wrapping!
The contemporary camouflage graphics on the tank and the paneling was created by precise painting and was gradually built up in 7 layers. The paint-job is a masterpiece by painter Walter Oberli. By using paint layers, Walter could control each single element and place it without any deformation you would get by using foil. Therefore the result is very precise and you can clearly see the impeccable paint-job.

The idea of the contemporary graphics was to reinterpret the camouflage design with sharp graphics and certain highlights in yellow to make it modern and sporty. These graphics together with the new tight and sexy proportions transformed the tame CB1000R into a camouflage power rocket.

R-adical
Stefan: ” I found this work on the CB1000R extremely exciting and inspiring. When I think back it is almost like a poem, or a story. I spent evenings and nights bolting together parts to take them apart again because it was somehow not consistent yet. It is a gradual building process to get the right coherence of the bike. At the end you can clearly identify the original Honda CB1000R donor bike, but yet the impression of our custom build is totally new.”

Photo credit: Gannet/Fuhrer

Builder details:
ARCTOS Collection
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